Tips on how to get students speaking in class

Here you can find a summary of some tips on how to get your students speaking in class posted by Diana Corcos in Oxford University Press Website.  Do you think you could use them in your classes? Why? Why not?

• Get your your classroom layout right. Have students' desks arranged so they can see each other and you can move around easily.
• Keep control-without raising your voice. Tell your class that when your hand is held up you expect them to be quiet and listen.
• Grab their attention right from the start.  Have something students can get on immediately into the lesson, such as key words, open-ended questions or sentences with different verb tenses, which are usually compared.
• Drilling- don't make it boring - make it fun. Get students repeat a phrase in different ways or using different voices.
• Interested students are talkative. Link your speaking task to topics your students are interested in.
• Learn the names of all your students. Spend time getting everyone to learn everyones' names.
• Add a competitive element to make the class fun. It’s impossible to make every part of a lesson fun, but the more often your students enjoy their lesson the easier your task will be.